[May 28, 2014]WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Another 50 people have suffered salmonella poisoning
linked to Foster Farms chicken, bringing the total to
574 cases in the United States since March 2013, health
officials said on Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update
that the new cases were reported at an average of eight a week since
an April report on new infections caused by strains of
drug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg.

Thirty-seven percent of those with the foodborne bacteria have been
hospitalized in the outbreak that began in March 2013.

About 13 percent have developed blood infections, about three times
the number in typical salmonella infections, the CDC said. No deaths
have been reported.

Foster Farms, which is based in the U.S. west coast, said in a
statement that it had developed a multiple step approach to reduce
or wipe out salmonella at each stage of production.

“The company continues to make steady progress that has effectively
reduced Salmonella at the parts level to less than 10 percent — well
below the 2011/2012 USDA-measured industry benchmark of 25 percent,”
the company said. USDA stands for U.S. Department of Agriculture.